Ekaterinburg’s Ural Federal University (UrFU) has announced it is developing a new RFID-based technology to safeguard and take stock of library books. Eighteen months from now, the system is expected to be in operation at the library of Lyceum #130 in Yekaterinburg, a long-standing UrFU partner.
The non-contact radiofrequency scanning system will reportedly enable librarians to automatically take stock of various data carriers in the library collection. The project calls for the use of a new gigahertz frequency range.
Using gigahertz range scanners is a new trend in the RFID technology. It enables the RFID system to remain as compact as possible and eases the marking of tiny items without altering their functional properties.
‘Detector Technology Center,’ a UrFU spin-off start-up, will be responsible for developing and adopting the new RFID technology. It has recently received a $320,000 grant from the Bortnik Fund, a federal funder of small innovation companies.
“Large library complexes have been actively adopting such systems across the world. A school library [such as in Lyceum #130] is comparatively small, of course, but it offers a convenient ‘testing ground’ for the new project that can then be scaled and replicated elsewhere,” said Sergei Kortov, the UrFU provost for innovation.
Systems that scan RFID tags installed on a variety of things enable users to monitor and register the movement of those items. In Russia, such solutions are being tested by a number of players from supermarket chains to the national railways company.
